Number of Wildfires Caused by People Down in 2020 in NL

During the 2020 forest fire season, there were 67 recorded fires caused by people in Newfoundland and Labrador. That number is down from 88 in 2019 and 128 in 2018.

These fires accounted for less than five percent of the area burned.

Ninety recorded wildfires burned 4,231 hectares throughout the province. There were 68 fires on the island burning 199 hectares and 22 fires in Labrador burning 4032 hectares.

During the 2020 fire season, there were 79 forest firefighters and eight student firefighters on staff.

The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture also assisted with fire suppression efforts in other parts of the country as part of a Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement in place between the province and other forest fire fighting agencies.

In June, the province provided two water bombers to New Brunswick for 13 days and two water bombers and forest fire fighting staff to Parks Canada to assist with fires in Labrador.